The Route... In 3D!

35 Minutes on the turbo trainer last night - 25mins of over/under. Knee still not right

Totally committed.

Well, I managed to secure my entry for the 2013 Etape du Tour (within 1 minute of registration opening - hope I'm that speedy on the day), so I'm actually gonna do this.

Better start training.

A new PB on my run home on Monday. Went back to my old trainers for the benefit of my knees

Time to do more work on the bike.

Another Year Older.

36 today. I'm officially in my late 30's.

Haven't been on the bike for over a week apart from one aborted turbo session due to a knee pain. Probably picked up the injury running on Tuesday - I think the trainers are to blame.

Not good.

 

Broken bits...

 

Looks like I need a new wheel (or two...)

A New 'High'

Woke up to a misty, cold morning in the Brecon Beacons, but that wasn't enough to put me off today's planned ride.

Once I'd donned of all my cold-weather gear, I headed out along the back road out of Talybont towards Brecon. The Brecon Bypass allowed for a relaxed time trial section to get the blood pumping and the muscles working, before the first climb of the day up to Mynydd Illtud. The descent from the moorland at the top would've been great fun, if I could've seen more than 5m ahead of me:

Rather than risk bending a wheel on a rogue sheep, I rode the brake back down the hill (note to self: do this hill again in the summer - it looks fun)



After that I headed north to Sennybridge, then along the A40 to Trecastle. From there I headed south and climbed up through the the Glasfynydd Forest to the Bwlch Cerrig Duon pass, the highest point of the ride at 490m. The climb itself was great - 5km at an alpine-like gradient of 5-6%. It was easy to get into a rhythm and enjoy the scenery which was belatedly appearing from the mist. The descent proved to be the most enjoyable part of the day - a snaking downhill with excellent visibilty which allowed me to use the full width of the road and really get some speed up (apart from when taking the photo below!)

This downhill was followed immediately by a leisurely climb (4-5%) back up the A4067 towards Heol Senni.

Just before the village there's a set of steep ups and downs which I'm sure were strategically placed just to empty a cyclist's tank just a little more before the big climb of the day.

The ride along the valley is lovely, but those who've been before (or studied the profile map) know what is just around the corner. After the cattle grid, the Sarn Helen road begins to ramp up to between 10-12% until you reach the 1st switchback (with a near vertical gradient on it's inside). After that, it's a evil section of 14-15% until the second switchback (where the photo which adorns the title of this blog is taken), after which the gradient eases off to the top of the climb. I'm not too proud to say that I was in granny-gear for most of this, changing to 30-25 when I could for a little out of the saddle work. I made it up in one go, which is an improvement on my only other effort, and was rewarded with a spectacular view. A quick break, and a chat with a photographer who was enjoying the same view, then it was the flying descent all the way down to Ystradfellte. The fact that I was losing height just to climb again did not humour me at this point.

After the devilish 15% climb out of Ystradfellte, it was on to Penderyn, and the climb up Cefn Sychbant and the descent through the forest to the Llwyn-on Reservoir. A short stint down the A470 to just north of Merthyr and I finally turned for home along the road which follows shores of both Pontsticill and Talybont reservoirs. Only there's one more hill in the way.

The climb up to the waterfalls was an absolute brute. I was out of food, and I couldn't take the spare energy gel I had brought with me as I was out of water too! So I just ground it out, watching the metres climbed slowly increase on my Garmin. When 2000m rolled around I had a temporary feeling of euphoria. But only very temporary.

With one last effort I was over the top, and descending towards Talybont. I gave the bike a victory pat as I entered the village, then it was time to get off the saddle and eat the contents of my Dad's fridge.

In all, I had ridden 110kms and climbed 2080m. These were the only stats I could get however, as my new Garmin computer refused to play ball. I'm not having much luck with bike computers at the moment.

It feels great to have completed this ride, and I'm refusing to let the fact that the etape is longer and climbs higher temper this. For a start, there'll be feed & water stops when I finally get to the Alps!

Weight. A cyclists obsession...

I keep finding myself looking at very expensive carbon-framed bikes and imagining how much better they'd make my cycling performance. I have to keep telling myself that it's easier to lose the weight from my body than to find the money to upgrade my bike.

Plus the winners of the Tour de France were using bikes of a similar weight to mine all the way up to the late 1990's.

Plus I cannot justify upgrading a bike which is 3 months old.

So I won't be buying any improvement in performance just yet. Shame - those carbon bikes look so pretty.

Another 9.5 miles run this week, and the promise of one or two days riding in the Brecon Beacons to come.

2013 Diary.

It's going to be a slovenly Christmas with a 3 week holiday to Burma over the festive period, so to make sure I get back on the bike in January, I've put together a preliminary sportive / training calendar for 2013:

March 17: Burgess Hill Springtime Classic (115km)

April: 160+km ride in Brecon Beacons

May 25-27: Tour of Wessex (540km over 3 days)

May 31-June 4: Trip to Provence (inc. ascent of Mont Ventoux)

I may try to find one more sportive to top off the training in June, but Tom's wedding may get in the way of this.

30 min interval session on the turbo trainer this morning - 4x 30sec full sprints (too many excuses in my head for not doing the 5th sprint - need to work on my turbo trainer mentality)

So many shiny new things....

...so little time (and money) to buy them all.

After my Cateye computer gave up the ghost last week, I decided to spend the refund on an upgrade:

Yes reader, you can look forward to lots and lots of meaningless stats, analysis and comparisons now. You never know, it might even improve my cycling!

No work on the bike since Saturday (bad), but a 9.6mile run yesterday in a new PB (good). Why do I measure rides in KMs, but runs in miles?

Need to watch the consumption of 'nice food' too - winter can have a detrimental effect on the waistline.

Cycling for fun.

A really enjoyable spin through the Surrey hills today with my friend and 'etape veteran' Tom

The route took us on a nice warm-up spin from Cranleigh to Ewhurst, then a steady climb up to Peaslake. Another climb along Radnor Rd and a short flat-ish section brought us to the foot of White Downs Lane. Managed to stay on the middle chainring all the way up today, which was a improvement on my last attempt.

Below is Tom winching his way up the final 18% section:

A fun, if slippery descent down Ranmore followed, then a leisurely ascent of Box Hill.

A happy Tom, Lee and their reward:

Descending Box was great fun - the surface they laid for the Olympics is super-grippy. After that, it was the long climb up Ranmore, and just about every bump in Surrey. The final climb up Hound House Rd had both of us on our chinstraps and desperately looking for the top of the climb.

After that, it was a lovely descent in the afternoon sun back to Cranleigh for tea and medals.

Stats were: 63kms ridden and 1100m climbed.

But it wasn't about numbers today, it was just about getting time in the saddle and enjoying it. Because come the new year, training won't be quite as much fun.

Scare tactics.

The article below was written by Rob Harris, a sports physiotherapist who has completed numerous etapes, and advises on the training and conditioning required to get you through the event:

"The last couple of years I’ve helped friends get through the event, one was a first time Etape-ist – in fact they were really a first time cyclist and started at the back of the field – and ended there as well! For the other, I cycled back down Ventoux to give them a bit of support and I’ve never seen such carnage at a sporting event in my life!

You hear the horror stories that in the last 3 Etapes around 2500 of the 10,000 cyclists don’t finish, but to actually see it is something else.

Try to imagine 2500 cyclists, that’s like an entire UK Sportive not making the finish line – it can be for various reasons – they get swept up by the Sag wagon because they are not fast enough or they physically just cant make it but as I came up Ventoux in 2009 and the Tourmalet last year, the roadside was littered with bodies of people walking; lying in gutters asleep; people seeking shade; people who had just fallen off their bikes with exhaustion.

It may not be what you want to hear, but so many people are ill-prepared for the difficulty of the Etape or their simply not fast enough to avoid the Sag wagon – the Sag is a series of coaches filled with Gendarmes and they hold no mercy for those deemed too slow. If that’s you, you get dumped off your bike, it get chucked in the back of the truck and you have quite possibly the most depressing coach ride of your life…

So let’s not be amongst them because the Etape should be one of the greatest experiences of your life. It is truly a memorable and prolific event that I would urge everyone to experience but with ill preparation it can be one of the longest, hardest most horrible days you could have as well."

So now you know what I'm up against.

Miles to go.

Another interval session on the turbo trainer. Wrong frame of mind as my computer is up the spout and spent a good 40 mins trying to fix it before starting, so only did 4 sprints.

No power in the legs. Need time in the saddle.

Riding to stand still

Interval session on the turbo trainer last night: 45 mins with 5x 30 sec sprints. Went dizzy on the sprints a bit too quickly for my liking - hoping that will get easier.

Weight 77.9kg. Don't think I've been this light since high school. I'm wary of setting a goal weight as it could be demotivating if I fall behind.